9 classic U.S. dive bars

What makes a classic dive bar? According to CNN, it's a neighborhood standby with decades of history and everything from octogenarian bartenders and surly bouncers to pooping chickens and giggling ghosts. Here's a look at nine of the diviest bars in the country:

Zeitgeist (San Francisco) -- It's hipsters and yuppies versus bike messengers and Harley bros at this San Francisco beer haven with more than 40 brews on tap. The bloody Mary is praised as the best in the city, if you can manage to grab the attention of an ornery and well-inked bartender.

Rose's Lounge (Chicago) -- Corner bars are ubiquitous in Chicago. But not every corner bar feels like drinking in your grandmother's basement. Rose, who's been running the joint since the late 1970s, can usually be found sitting next to a cluster of ancient tchotchkes under a string of drooping, colored lights.

Jimmy's Corner (New York) -- Years before the Disneyfication of Times Square, owner and former boxer Jimmy Glenn was slinging $4 beers and swapping fighting tales at this New York institution. He still does today, in his 80s.

Ms. Mae's (New Orleans) -- If you can't see the Saints game on the TV, a cute bartender pouring a big glass of water and two cops talking to you in this picture, it's time to go.

Frolic Room (Los Angeles) -- LA Weekly crowned the Frolic Room the city's best dive in 2012, and few would argue with the bar's legendary status. Charles Bukowski, the prolific poet and novelist whose favorite subject was the City of Angels, drank here often. His portrait hangs above the cash register.

Pinkie Master's Lounge (Savannah, Ga.) -- Legend has it that Jimmy Carter, a friend of Pinkie's, stood on the bar and announced his run for the presidency here. This legendary Georgia haunt still draws politicians, as well as art students and aged regulars.

Earnestine & Hazel's (Memphis, Tenn.) -- Don't mind the haunted jukebox that plays whatever it wants whenever it wants or the two ghosts who like to wander the hallway. The friendly apparitions are just Earnestine and Hazel, two sisters who ran this former dry goods store and brothel a million years ago.

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